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The top of my father’s head bobs as he climbs up the stairs toward my floor. I open my door up wider. “Come on in.”
Clayton steps in, noting my suitcase. “Going somewhere?” he asks.
My hand rubs at the back of my neck. “I’m a bit of a nomad and travel where my heart leads me.”
“It would be just my luck, I leave Oakport Beach to see you here but you’re leaving.”
He’s giving me a shy, boyish look. It’s adorable. If only good boys were my thing.
Chapter 26: Max
Romeo’snumberslidesacrossmy phone for the second time before my fingers swipe to ignore. I need a second to collect my thoughts. Sienna was leaving me a fucking Dear John letter. It’s as bad as the admiration letter I got this morning. I have to give whoever is sending me those letters credit; I can’t find them, and I can findanyone. Deep down I know I haven’t put that much time into it. I’ve been too consumed with Sienna.
That’s ending now. I’m getting my old self back. I’ve righted the world by giving her back to her father. It will be as if I never entered into her world. I’ve wiped the slate clean of our meeting. Everything will go back to its natural order. It has to.
My silent alarm goes off for Throne of Sin. Of course, this would be the day my world explodes and doesn’t give me a minute to myself.
I call my brother back and he starts speaking the moment it connects. “We need you at Throne of Sin; it’s being raided by the cops.”
I jump on my motorcycle, going into protection mode. It’s easier to flip my switch than to think about what just happened. Dante better have gotten his ass out of there before they showed up.
By the time I’m there, all the girls are in the backs of cop cars.
“What’s the meaning of this?” I ask, pushing my way through the swarm of cops to get closer to the front door.
“Are you Dante Mancini?” The cop is looking down his nose at me, like I’m the scum of the world. I’m not dressed in a nice suit like my brother always wears. I’m wearing dirty jeans and a tight black T-shirt under my leather jacket. I flick up my aviators to look him in the eye. It would take me one week of planning and his family would never see him again.
“Yeah, I’m him,” I lie, tilting my chin up and throwing him my best tough-guy attitude.
Cold cuffs are immediately snapped onto my wrists. I don’t bother fighting them. This will give Dante more time to get the fuck out of whatever this is. I don’t fight the arrest, only half listening. It sounds like human trafficking bullshit.
My rights are read to me as I’m pulled toward a cop car and my head is pushed down. I’m not worried. Dante will make the necessary calls and, by the time we get to the station, I’ll be free to walk.
Shelby gives me a little wave and I note her hands aren’t handcuffed. A few of the girls are crying, scared that Dante can’t protect them.
Not once has this place been targeted before. We have half the police force on our salary. I memorize every law enforcement face; they will not go unpunished. I suppose this is a shit place for me, the family lawyer, to be sitting. There’s no doubt Romeo will have to call his sister-in-law, Aria Rossi, to help us out of this one. Ironic thing is, she was once the sinful daughter for falling in love with a cop.
Two cops get in the front, not bothering to look back at me. “You know my name. Wouldn’t it be fair if I knew yours?”
They ignore me, and that’s when I spot the bartender from that small-ass beach town. He’s standing off to the side, watching all of this go down and looking perplexed that Throne of Sin is now closed. Strange.
We stop at the back of the station and I’m led inside like a dog on a chain. I fucking hate it.
They put me into a small room then cuff me to the chair and the table. The whole game of power is unimpressive, too showboaty for my personal taste. There’s a camera set up in the corner, directed at me. No other cameras that I can see, and no two-way mirrors.
My head jerks back when I see Clayton McCain walk in and close the door. Shock flows through me seeing the useless beach cop in the city. Why the fuck is he here? He walks toward the camera, turning it on, the red lights shining to life.
“Dante is going to have a few human trafficking charges laid against him.” He whistles, folding up a few pieces of paper on a clipboard. “It’s an impressive list.”
My lips purse and my jaw clenches, but other than that I don’t move a muscle. My body stays looking relaxed in my chair when I’m anything but.
“Too bad you’re his brother, Maximus Mancini, and this has nothing to do with you.”
I cock a brow. “Did you just figure that out now, or did you know the moment they arrested me?”
He smiles at me like we’re two friends catching up. This entire room makes my skin crawl, it feels smaller than it is.
“Me? I did nothing. You’re the one who took his place, just like I knew you would.” He takes a seat across from me, leaning over to press a button on the camera. “I’m impressed how fast you came. You had me second guessing myself.”
